The breakdown characteristics of field effect transistors are affected by the proximity of the steepness of the junction profile. In general, the closer the active regions to the gate electrode, the lower the breakdown voltage for the field effect transistor. In other words, the greater the distance between a proximal edge of a gate electrode and an adjacent heavily doped semiconductor region (which is a source region or a drain region), the greater the breakdown voltage of the field effect transistor. However, the increase in the distance between the gate electrodes and the active regions increase the size of the field effect transistor and decreases device density, thereby increasing the manufacturing cost per device.